The Best Ways to Improve A Child’s Writing Skills

Some children are born writers and you never have to coax a word out of them. Other kids struggle with writing from day one. What’s a homeschool mom to do?

How to Improve Kid’s Writing

You’ll want to know what’s causing the writing struggle, so we’ll discuss that below. Then, we’ll share solutions that you can start using in your homeschool right away. Here are some practical ideas on how to improve kids writing.

How can I improve my child’s writing skills fast?

The best way to improve your child’s writing skills fast is to diagnose the exact cause of the writing struggle. Some children have a harder time with writing curriculum and programs but they will catch on fast if you play games that help build writing and word skills.

For other children, the issue is the child’s handwriting struggle and not necessarily coming up with what to write. In that case, there’s no quick fix, but rather, you’ll need to be patient while their hand muscles mature and grow.

Helping Students With Writing Difficulties

Helping students with writing difficulties is much easier in a homeschool setting than in a traditional classroom. You know exactly where your child needs the help and you can customize and tailor your homeschool tasks to support your child. So, with that in mind, let’s talk about why writing is difficult for some kids.

How do you help students with writing difficulties?

Students with writing difficulties face multiple struggles. And some of these difficulties will change depending on the child’s age.

When Writing is Difficult for Students

Have you ever just stared at a piece of paper, not knowing what to write? That is one issue that is common among students. But writing is an essential skill that they will need in the future, so it’s important to figure out why writing is difficult for some students.

Why is writing so hard for students?

Sometimes a student is just bored with the writing topic or prompt. While our teens will have to eventually learn how to write on a variety of topics they may (or may not) be interested in, maybe we can show a little grace to our younger kids as they learn the writing process.

Something as simple as letting your children’s writing be focused on a topic they’re passionate about will make all the difference! Does your child love dinosaurs? Then let them write up a storm about dinosaurs. When a blank page stares back at some children, it can be very intimidating. So take the struggle out of your children’s writing by letting them choose the topic.

Why does my child struggle with writing?

If your child struggles with writing, you might think he just needs more practice. But a very important distinction needs to be made between writing and handwriting. They are not the same thing!

At an early age, your young children may lack the maturity of fine motor skills that make the physical act of writing seamless. But, you can still work orally on things like narration in order to build pre-writing skills. That is, your kids can still be building the foundation of good writing skills without having to physically write on paper.

So, if writing is a struggle, consider whether it’s the physical act of writing that is hard or the aspect of coming up with words and structure. If it is indeed the physical aspect of writing that is causing the trouble, then you can be the scribe and write down your child’s narration. This will still help them to be able to organize their thoughts into sentences, but you can tackle the physical writing for them.

Why is my child slow in writing?

Your child might be slow in writing because they are still focused on things like letter formation in the early years. Or it could be that your child’s writing speed is slow because they are still struggling with pre-writing skills such as organizing their thoughts.

There are plenty of opportunities in a homeschool setting to diagnose the problem and find a customized solution. The more your child writes, the better they will get with the actual physical writing skill. But you might need to take a step back and work on oral narration and skip the physical writing. That way, your child is able to focus on organizing ideas before having to write them down.

What causes difficulty writing?

One specific learning disability that can cause difficulty writing is dysgraphia. This disability shows itself with inconsistent and illegible handwriting and slow writing. Dysgraphia can be diagnosed after a child turns 5 years old. That way, the cause of the writing difficulty is more easily diagnosed properly and not attributed to a developmental delay.

What does poor handwriting indicate?

Poor handwriting can be an indication that your child has dysgraphia. It can also be caused by a student who refuses to slow down and work carefully. Some students naturally have good handwriting and some students have to work much harder for good handwriting. You know your child best. If you suspect dysgraphia, you can have them assessed by a licensed psychologist.

The Reading and Writing Connection

There is a distinct connection between reading and writing. In fact, a former college professor has stated that students who are readers are better writers. This is because they know how the language is supposed to sound and their vocabulary is much more expansive than the slang used by non-readers.

Easy Ways to Improve Kid’s Writing

There are different ways to improve kid’s writing. These simple activities are easy to include into your homeschool routine.

Read Good Books

Great ideas for writing come from regular reading. And when your kids read good books, they’ll learn the proper syntax and structure of good writing. They’ll develop an ear for it. So nurturing a love of reading in your homeschool has multiple life-long benefits, including improvement of writing.

Encourage Reading

Encouraging reading is a great way to help your kids become better writers. When kids are readers, they indirectly learn tons of new vocabulary. They also learn what great writing sounds like so they are more likely to be able to replicate that good writing. In short, by the simple fact of encouraging your kids to read more, you’re making a huge difference in their writing skills.

Encourage Creative Writing

When your kids are practicing their creative writing skills, a helpful piece of advice is not to overly correct their grammar. This will just serve to squelch their creativity and blossoming writing skills. Save grammar instruction for a separate task. But it’s a good idea to find multiple ways to encourage their creative writing skills.

Don’t neglect the regular writing that takes place throughout the day. Your kids could write letters to a pen pal to practice their writing. Or encourage them to make the grocery list. Just incorporate writing in natural ways for more enjoyable writing practice.

One last way to encourage creative writing is to save your children’s writing in a Family Anthology that everyone can enjoy for years to come. This is a fun way to keep creative writing samples around to read and re-read.

Make Time for Writing Practice

Strong writing skills can be developed over time, and so you do want to make time for writing practice in your homeschool schedule. As with most things, practice is key and regular practice will bring better writing in your students. How about having your student write a letter to a friend of a family member? You can even use a letter template for kids to make it easier for them. 

Make Use of Writing Prompts

You can make use of writing prompts to help your kids get started. Sometimes the blank page is just too distressing. But if you have a fun writing prompt that gives the context or setting of the writing assignment, many kids will be able to produce a good written piece.

Here are some fun writing prompts:

• Write a story about going on an adventure with your best friend.
• Talk about your favorite vacation.
• Write a dialogue between two pets.
• Describe your favorite toy.

Encourage Journaling

When you can encourage journaling, your kids will get a lot of writing practice without much pressure. Journaling allows them to embrace their own writing style without having to complete a “school assignment” with lots of stifling parameters.

Use Graphic Organizers & Writing Templates

Finally, if your children are struggling with writing, it’s a great idea to use a graphic organizer template and writing outlines. These tools give just enough structure and organization to help kids improve their writing.

Plus, the writing experience is a learning process. Good writing is organized and structured, and a graphic organizer will help your visual learners understand how to become better writers. Older children and teens will benefit from graphic organizers as they need to write about more complex topics and produce more structured research papers.

A writing template gives the intended structure of the finished product and serves as a guide to the writer. These are great tools to use for any age and will help your kids learn to be better writers.

In Conclusion

Don’t forget to be patient with your children. Not all kids will take off with writing at the same age. Some children love to write and others, not so much. Try and learn what your child likes and dislikes when it comes to writing and then tailor assignments to them as individuals.